Volunteer with us!

The Prisoners Literature Project is based in Berkeley, California, and we’re always looking for volunteers to help answer letters, send out books, learn more about the prison system, and assist in other ways.

We currently meet on Sundays from 2-6pm and on Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30pm at the Grassroots House.  This is located at 2022 Blake St. (at Milvia), Berkeley, CA 94704.  Please note that all sessions are first-come, first-served, and will be capped at around 20 volunteers, so please try to arrive early.

(Map – there’s plenty of local parking, and the office is walkable in 11-15 minutes from downtown Berkeley BART or Ashby BART  – also, AC Transit bus #18 stops nearby.)

We welcome helpers of most ages and experiences at our volunteer sessions (here’s what they look like!), and are also very happy to host students looking for community service. (On age of volunteers: we prefer not to host kids under 10 years old, and are OK with 10-15 year olds if there’s a parent or guardian overseeing all of the book-picking and other work that they do.)

Overall, you should read a lot, have neat legible handwriting, and be able to follow the rules to get books into prisons. We’d love volunteers to help us out at least once a month, but the frequency is up to you.

You don’t need to pre-register, but it is your first time attending, please identify yourself to our co-ordinator for the session so they can briefly train you – it should only take 5 minutes. For anyone curious on what you have to do onsite, here’s the training information that the co-ordinator will go through with you.

Bringing more than four people? Please contact us first so we can better accommodate your group. (BTW, we maintain ‘call for volunteer’ listings on VolunteerMatch.org, on Idealist.org, and on AllForGood.org, so you might have seen us there!)

[Note on our code of conduct: The PLP strives to be an inclusive, friendly and collaborative group. We ask volunteers to always use helpful and respectful communication. Participants asked, by anyone, to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, talk to a volunteer session coordinator.]

Please note that we can’t accept prisoner book requests at the Berkeley address.  Book requests from U.S. prisoners must be mailed to PLP; c/o Bound Together Books, 1369 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117.